Island Vegetarian · 2005-09-01 · The Origins of Specious The Island Vegetarian The Island...

The Island Vegetarian • Jan - Mar 2002 Page 1

Farewell, Elaine & Jerry

by Dave Crooks

H ave you ever wondered how VSH came into being? Or how Elaine French and Jerry Smith got together? Did you know that the life cycle of a

"Daisy" matched Elaine's and Jerry's involvement with VSH? If you enjoy inter-esting stories, read on. The following will first discuss Elaine and Jerry sepa-rately and then as a team. Unfortunately this article must also serve as a sad and cheerless farewell. If you haven't already heard, Elaine and Jerry have decided to move from their Hawaiian paradise to seek new challenges in the rugged but pic-turesque terrain near Zion National Park in southern Utah. Elaine Raised in Oregon, Elaine became a flight attendant after college. She followed a diet of Pop-Tarts, Big Macs, and food on the fly. Her conversion to vegetarian-ism started around 1974 when she began dating a low-fat non-vegetarian whom she looked up to as a "healthy eater." When he became a graduate student, Elaine empathetically decided to begin cooking for her "poor starving student," using Diet For A Small Planet as her con-ceptual guide and cookbook. To her surprise and de-light, he and oth-ers liked what she cooked. Soon af-ter this Elaine re-ceived a copy of the popular Priti-kin diet book; she stopped using al-cohol and coffee and began weav-ing Pritikin's new ideas into her recipes. Also around this time she attended one of John McDougall's lectures and soon found herself editing his first book and teaching cooking classes to his patients. Jerry Smith attended one of those classes, and that is how he and Elaine met -- Elaine, the practiced cook full of ideas, and Jerry, as you will soon see, the desperate cook running out of ideas.

(See Farewell on page 19)

The Island Vegetarian

Vegetarian Society of Hawaii Quarterly Newsletter

supporting human health, animal rights, and ecology Volume 13, Issue 1, Jan - Mar 2002

Inside

• Science Corner

• John Westerdahl

• Eye on the Environment

• Calendar of Events & Bookstore

• Animal Rights Corner

• Recipes

• Book Review

Public Lectures

TERRY SHINTANI, MD “The Truth About Carbohydrates”

Saturday, January 12, 7 p.m. McCoy Pavilion

VESANTO MELINA “Fine Tuning Your Diet” Saturday, February 2, 7 p.m.

McCoy Pavilion

HOWARD LYMAN “Mad Cowboy”

Saturday, March 9, 7 p.m. McCoy Pavilion (TENTATIVE)

“Elvis,” Elaine French, Jerry Smith

Page 2 The Island Vegetarian • Jan - Mar 2002

A midst the hysteria over deliber-ately introduced anthrax with

~24 cases and ~5 fatalities to date no one apparently has noticed that a number of other diseases -- those as-sociated with animal foods -- are much commoner than anthrax in the U.S. 73,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7 (primarily from beef) result in ~100 fatalities yearly. Salmonellosis (usually from eggs) takes ~1000 lives with an incidence of 40,000. These and other animal-related diseases are shown below in descending order.

Occasionally plant foods are listed as the cause of food-borne outbreaks, but almost invariably the plants have been contaminated by animal feces. Plants are not good culture media for human pathogens, while animals are. If our opponents were serious about killing us, a few cc's of E. coli O157:H7 dumped into the hamburger mix-ture in the typical poorly supervised slaughterhouse would make white powder in an envelope look like a Halloween prank.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/escherichiacoli_g.htm

Anthrax itself is also animal-borne; it used to be called “wool sort-ers disease.” Texas agricultural offi-cials say that more than 1,600 ani-mals died of anthrax in the summer of 2001. Why? Because from 1866-1890 cattle were herded along the Chisholm Trail from San Antonio, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas, whence

they were railroaded east for slaughter. Diseased cattle were simply aban-doned on the trail and the carcasses left to rot, allow-ing anthrax spores to mi-grate into the soil. This year Texas had a rainy spring after a prolonged period of heat and drought, perfect conditions for the anthrax spores to percolate up through the soil and in-fect today’s cattle. While I share every-

one’s concerns over chemical war-fare, it seems to me that the lesson since 9-11 is that biological warfare is a bust. Anthrax spreads more terror than disease. Animal foods spread disease like crazy, but no one no-tices, and the same government that wails over anthrax supports the pro-duction of animal foods. There are some other unpleasant realities about animal agriculture as well. First, it’s extraordinarily waste-

(Continued on page 3)

Science Corner

by William Harris, MD, VSH Board Member http://www.vegsource.com/harris/

The Origins of Specious

The Island Vegetarian

The Island Vegetarian is published quarterly by and for the members of the

Vegetarian Society of Hawaii P.O. Box 23208

Honolulu, HI 96823-3208 808-944-VEGI (8344) E-mail: [email protected]

www.VSH.org

Visit our website for newsletter archives

and more.

Board of Directors President: Alida Rutchick Vice President: Laurie Veatch Secretary: Mary Arakaki Treasurer: Elaine French Directors: Jim Brown Bill Harris, MD Elaine Johnson Karl Seff, PhD

Newsletter Committee Alida Rutchick

Helen Wells Jim Brown

Mahalo to all our volunteers…

The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the writers

and do not necessarily reflect those of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii.

Mahalo to the Adobe Corporation for its generous software donation.


(Continued from page 2)

ful of water, since, like us, the farm animals insist on drinking it. When all the animal populations and indi-vidual water consumption figures are factored in, it turns out that U.S. farm animals drink 30 times as much wa-ter as U.S. humans.

Sources: (US Geological Service) http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/wulv.html. The Idaho Department of Wa-ter Resources, http://www.idwr.state.id.us/info/water/wateruse.htm

In addition to the water going in one end, there’s stuff coming out the other. U.S. farm animals generate ~130 times as much fecal matter per year as U.S. humans, who mess up the planet adequately all by them-selves. Manure washed from feedlots is blamed by the U.S. Fish and Wild-life Service for impairing fisheries along 60,000 miles of streams and for degrading 1,785 bodies of water in 39 states. To deal with the prob-lem, this year’s U.S. House Farm Bill proposes to utilize $1.2 billion/year of taxpayers’ money for the next ten years for the cleanup of manure

spillage that would disappear by it-self if people would just stop eating animals. However, the pig farmers like the idea. Said one, a former North Caro-lina tobacco grower, "In my view, we're feeding the country. If they want to eat cheap, someone's got to pay the costs." Now there’s logical thinking raised to the nth power. If the food has already been paid for by the taxpayers, it's no longer cheap -- it only looks cheap to the near-sighted.

Source: Report compiled by the Mi-nority Staff of the United States Sen-ate Committee on Agriculture, Nutri-tion, & Forestry for Senator Tom Harkin

Pam Rice at Viva Veggie (http://www.vivavegie.org/) put it nicely: “Pollute your land, get paid to stop.”

The manure problem is not lim-ited to the mainland. A Waianae pig producer of some 300 breeder sows was recently fined $600,000 by the Department of Health for allowing manure runoff on the streets, and a Kailua dairy was fined $16,000 for manure overflow into the Kapaa stream. Through the 1980s the USDA/CCC (United States Department of Agriculture/ Commodities Credit Corporation) price supports averaged out at $12.5 billion/year. However, if a government program is a fiasco, the first thing we do is change the name. The 1996 Freedom to Farm Act re-christened the giveaways

“Production Flexibility Con-tacts” and proposed to phase out many farm subsidies by 2002. Since then, however, subsidies have increased to record levels -- $20 billion last year -- as Con-gress has doled out "emergency" payments aimed at helping farmers through “rough eco-nomic times.” The following chart shows the reduced amounts of taxpayers’ money that was supposed to be

used as U.S. farmers transitioned to a “market orientation” in contrast to the monies that were actually paid.

One critic says, "The amount of money being shoveled out is incredi-ble, and the fact is that it's having no effect on keeping average farmers in business." That is so because, ac-cording to the General Accounting Office, farms of 1,000 or more acres received 52 percent of farm pay-ments even though they make up just 8 percent of the nation's farms. Over 50% of the payout goes to feed grain production, a de facto sup-port for the meat and dairy biz, and there appear to be no funds given for the production of the healthy vegeta-bles and fruits that nevertheless make it on their own in the free market.

Sources: 1996 Farm Bill, U.S. House of Reps 2001 farm bill. www.turnpoint.org/grazing.doc Hu-dak, Sierra club 1998. http://www.predatorconservation.org/4Campaigns/WS/WShome.htm

Hawaii has seen its own share of giveaways to those chronic mendi-

(See Origins on page 17)


Vegetarian Nutrition Vegetarian Nutrition UpdateUpdate

by John Westerdahl, PhD, MPH, RD

Calcium in Vegetarian Diets

T he relationship between diet and bone health is a complex one; it is

therefore difficult to assess the impact of vegetarian diets on the health of the bone. Most of the scientific research indicates that calcium intake of lacto-ovo vegetarians is comparable to or greater than that of omni-vores and that their bone health is simi-lar. Vegans, particularly ve-gan women, often have been found to have calcium intakes that are lower than the dietary recommendations, and limited research suggests that vegans who do not have adequate calcium in-take have lower bone density than om-nivores. Vegetarians therefore are ad-vised to assure that there is adequate calcium in their diets.

Factors That Affect Calcium Needs

There are a number of factors that may affect calcium needs. Some stud-ies indicate that diets high in protein, especially animal protein, which is high in sulfur-containing amino acids, cause increased urinary calcium losses. This is so because high animal protein diets can increase the acidity of the blood, in turn requiring the leaching of alkaline bone tissue into the blood-stream to serve as a buffer. This has led many scientists to speculate that

vegans have a lower calcium require-ment than omnivores because of their lower protein content overall and the absence of animal protein in their diets. (Some studies indicate that the ratio of

protein to cal-cium in the diet is more predic-tive of bone health than cal-cium intake alone.). Cross-cultural com-parisons sug-gest that low protein intake protects bone

health even when calcium intake is low. More research is needed to deter-mine whether the lower protein intake of vegans is in fact protective.

Meeting Calcium Needs with a Vegan Diet

Calcium needs can easily be met by plant-based diets. Plant foods that are naturally rich in calcium include low-oxalate green leafy vegetables (collards, kale, mustard greens, and turnip greens), broccoli, bok choy, cal-cium-set tofu, almonds, and blackstrap molasses. The growing number of cal-cium-fortified foods includes soy and rice milk, breakfast cereals, and some brands of fruit juices. Vegetarian-formulated calcium supplements can also provide significant levels of cal-cium without the saturated fat and cho-lesterol found in dairy products.

Vegetarians should be aware that calcium absorption is inhibited by ox-

alates (types of acids) found in some vegetables such as Swiss chard, spin-ach, and beet greens. However, cal-cium is very well absorbed (at rates about twice the absorption from cow's milk) from low-oxalate leafy green vegetables.

Note that calcium in beans and nuts is absorbed at lower rates than the calcium in greens. Overall, however, vegans who eat well balanced and well planned meals consume a variety of calcium sources with varying absorp-tion rates and thereby easily meet their calcium needs.

Calcium and Osteoporosis

Controlled clinical studies using calcium supplements show a protective effect of calcium on bone health. How-ever, most observational studies show little or no effect on bone health of higher calcium intakes from foods (such as the levels obtained from dairy foods).

As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to determine the effect of dietary cal-cium on bone health because of the many factors involved. For example, while meeting dietary calcium needs is obviously important for bone health, weight-bearing exercise and adequate vitamin D also play a role. In addition, factors such as high sodium intake, ex-cessive weight loss, alcohol, smoking, and excessive animal protein intake may all contribute to poorer bone health, while factors such as soy isofla-vone intake may be protective.

(See Nutrition Update on page 18)

“V egans who eat well balanced

and well planned meals easily meet their

calcium needs.”


R aising animals for people to eat hurts the environment in sev-

eral ways: • Far more land, energy, and water

are required to raise animals for food than would be used to feed humans a plant-based diet.

• Large quantities of manure often adversely affect land, water, and air.

• Cattle emit methane into the air, contributing to greenhouse cli-mate change.

Energy Fossil fuels are used to run farm ma-chinery and to manufacture fertilizers and pesticides. David Pimentel of Cornell University has found that a typical American uses the equivalent of 42 gallons of gasoline a year by eating red meat and poultry. Water Livestock production uses enormous quantities of water directly, and it indirectly threatens the purity of streams, rivers, and underground aq-uifers. Nearly one third of Califor-nia's irrigation water goes to live-stock. Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, and Texas pump out of an under-ground water resource, portions of which have been severely depleted. Producing a pound of American beef uses approximately 300 gallons of water. Manure Factory farms accumulate millions of

tons of animal waste that can pollute rivers and groundwater. Nitrogen and phosphorus in manure, when it infil-trates rivers or open bodies of water, over-fertilizes algae, which then grows rapidly, depletes oxygen sup-plies, and suffocates aquatic ecosys-tems. Some waterways polluted in this way are the Chesapeake Bay, the oxygen-starved Baltic Sea, and the polluted Adriatic Sea, where animal wastes add to the nutrient loads from

fertilizer runoff, human sewage, and urban and industrial pollution. Un-derground water contaminated with manure nitrogen and nitrogen from artificial fertilizers can cause nervous system impairments and cancer in humans. In the United States roughly one fifth of the wells in Midwestern livestock states have nitrate levels that exceed health standards. (WHO guidelines 1984) Climatic Change As noted in Part I of this series, for-est destruction for ranching contrib-utes to climate change. When living plants are cut down and burned, or

when they decompose, they release carbon into the atmosphere in the form of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. In the atmosphere carbon dioxide traps the heat of the sun, thereby warming the earth. In addi-tion, livestock are a source of the second most important greenhouse gas, methane. Ruminant animals re-lease perhaps 80 million tons of this gas each year in belches and flatu-lence, while animal wastes at feed-lots and factory-style farms emit an-other 35 million tons. In the farms waste is commonly stored in the low-oxygen environments of sewage la-goons and manure piles, where meth-ane forms during decomposition. Manure that falls in the fields, by contrast, decomposes without releas-ing methane because oxygen is pre-sent. Livestock account for 15 to 20 percent of global methane emis-sions -- about three percent of global warming from all gases. From the most immediate im-pacts -- nitrogen contamination and retreating grasses -- to the most far-reaching -- loss of species and cli-mate change -- rearing animals around the world takes a toll on na-ture. Resource-intensive animal agri-culture is out of alignment with the Earth's ecosystems. Information for this article is based on the Worldwatch Institute's "Taking Stock: Animal Farming and the Environment," Alan B. Durning and Holly B. Brough.

Eye on the EnvironmentEye on the Environment by Laurie Veatch, M.A., VSH Vice President

The Environment is Hurt by Eating Animals: Part Two


RReviewseviews

by Helen Wells, MA

The Little Village, 113 Smith Street, Downtown Honolulu, Open 7 Days 10 a.m. to mid-night, 545-3008.

T his is a cute little restaurant with a farmhouse décor. Whoever

decorated the restaurant did a fine job. Little touches, such as the quaint little container in which the rice is served, have appeal. A recording of chirping birds was playing when I was there. One certainly feels a bit of the ambi-ance of rural China of yesteryear. I mention also that the prices here are really excellent, some of the best I've seen in Honolulu for Chinese food. The restaurant is attracting vegetarian customers by offering vegetarian sub-stitutes for all dishes. I had deep-fried mochi, turnip pancakes, an eggplant dish, and rice. Although it was hard for the waiter to answer my questions because of the lunch rush, I felt confident that what I was getting was in fact vegetarian. But I made a note to myself to go there at a less busy time so that I could ask more detailed questions. Karl Seff told me about this res-taurant and said he likes its kung pao tofu (minus meat bits, of course). He said to tell the waiter to make it "strictly vegetarian." He also likes the black bean sauce, the bitter melon, and the brown rice.

A negative for me was that there were some scary items on the menu that made the animal rights part of me trip out. By looking at the menu, one can surmise that the accommodation of vegetarians has been done for the "health" vegetarians, not the "animal rights" vegetarians. So, you are warned. In effect, some vegetarians may prefer to get their orders "to go."

La Bamba, 847 Kapahulu Ave., open Sunday - Friday 11 a.m. (-ish) to 2 p.m. and 5 to 9:30 p.m., closed Satur-days, 737-1956

S omeone told me to seek out their “potato burrito.” I did, and I rec-

ommend that you do, too. It's actually on the menu under “Burritos, a large soft flour tortilla filled with beans or mixed vegetables $7.95.” Thumbs up that the beans don't have lard! Thumbs down that the rice has chicken broth. The waiter said, “But it's only a little chicken broth.” When are the restau-rants going to learn? I told him that even a little was too much and that he would get more vegetarian customers if he didn't put any chicken broth in the rice at all. Nevertheless, he was willing to give more salad in place of the rice. You also have to request no cheese. What I got was really deli-cious, and the prices were reasonable. Other things to mention, the lem-onade was incredibly good as was the guacamole. Overall there wasn't a lot of variety for vegetarians in this menu, but the staff seemed glad to substitute the beans for meat and to make other accommodations. So, if you have been frustrated by not finding a lard-free Mexican place, I definitely recommend La Bamba -- it is now my official Mexican restaurant!

Editor's note: As delicious as the food is at La Bamba (including the chunky cilantro guacamole and the very fresh salsa made on the spot, be aware that, the last we heard, cotton-

seed oil, which is very high in saturated fat, is used there exclusively.

Aloha Country Market at Ward Stadium 16

F inally, next time you go to the movies, check out the Aloha

Country Market at Ward Stadium 16. It's a counter with fresh oranges, ap-ples, bananas, and grapes. Maybe the price is high compared with sneaking in your own fruit in your purse, but you have to figure they probably have a huge overhead. And of course it's a great idea for them to be selling fruit there! If you can afford to buy some of it, please do so. The money is better spent than on the junk food, and you'll be helping to keep it available for the little kids.

If you would like me to check out a vegetarian dish, tell me about it at [email protected].


VSH Legislative Update

by Bill Harris, M.D., VSH Legislative Liaison Committee Chair

I n the recent Hawaii legislative session VSH sponsored two reso-

lutions supporting locally the Five-A-Day fruit and vegetable advisory of the National Cancer Institute and the USDA as well as a second resolu-tion in support of an alternative vege-tarian menu in the Hawaii School Food Service. These were combined into a single resolution, HCR 151 HD 1 SD1, which we were happy to see passed. Following the persuasive VSH talk by Antonia De-mas, PhD this past October we have two more resolu-tions in the mill. Repre-sentative Den-nis Arakaki will introduce these, and we'll keep you posted on their pro-gress. We will request your support via Veg-HI ([email protected]) and the VSH website (www.vsh.org) af-ter their HCR numbers are known. Some of the language of these bills includes:

HCR (TBA) URGING THE DE-PARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO ENCOURAGE THE DEVELOP-MENT AND USE OF FOOD GAR-DENS AS A TEACHING TOOL IN THE HAWAII ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

WHEREAS, nutritious food is a fun-damental necessity for both children and adults; and

WHEREAS, many children and adults would not presently know how to grow their own food in the event of a famine, national emergency, or other social upheaval; and

WHEREAS, children who develop sound eating habits early in life are known to exhibit higher academic performance, fewer behavioral prob-lems, a lower risk for obesity, better attendance records, and a reduced frequency of common childhood ill-nesses........

BE IT ...... RESOLVED that princi-pals and teachers in Hawaii elemen-tary schools be encouraged to inte-

grate the growing of healthy plant food as a fun-damental educational tool into such areas as arith-metic, his-tory, nutri-tion, personal hygiene, physical edu-cation, sci-ence, and so-cial stud-ies......

HCR (number tbd) URGING THE DE-PARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO NEGOTIATE THE INTRODUCTION OF HEALTHY JUICES AND SNACKS INTO THE DISPENSING MACHINES AL-LOWED ON HAWAII SCHOOL PREMISES

WHEREAS, the high sugar and fat content of these (soft drinks and snacks) and the lack of nutrients are known risk factors for both dental caries and obesity; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii Health De-partment recognizes the incidence of childhood caries here to be among

the highest in the nation; and

WHEREAS, an Hawaii Obesity Task Force was recently formed to deal with the skyrocketing incidence of obesity in Hawaii school children; and

WHEREAS, the purveyors of these popular items are in no way held financially responsible for the health costs generated by their use in the State of Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, the soft drink and candy companies are now underwriting some of the extracurricular expenses in Hawaii schools; and

WHEREAS, it thus appears likely that both school children and school finances are now dependent on these unhealthy choices, therefore

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education, and the Department of Health, in order to gradually intro-duce healthier snack choices to Ha-waii school children, are urged to ne-gotiate with the companies operating the vending machines on Hawaii school premises to provide at least one (1) healthy juice, (preferably vegetable juice, since it has a higher nutrient index and a lower cariogenic potential than fruit juice) and one (1) healthy snack such as fresh fruit or trail mix in each machine.

“T here’s no reason to drink cow’s milk

at any time in your life. It was designed for calves, not humans, and we should all stop drinking it today.”

Dr. Frank A. Oski, former director of pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University


Waimanalo’s Garden of Good Eating

by Eileen Towata, PhD

U sing a garden as a classroom is a great idea although not a

new one. In 1995 the State of Cali-fornia encouraged putting “a garden in every school” with integrative cur-ricula, garden-based nutrition educa-tion, and support for developing fam-ily/community relationships. The “Edible Schoolyard,” a project cen-tered at Martin Luther King Jr. Mid-dle School in Berkeley, makes the garden a focal point. Children are involved in growing fruits and vege-tables as well as in moving them from garden to table by participating in kitchen activities. Chicago’s “Garden Initiative” program also uses gardens to teach lessons, hands-on skills, and responsibility. Garden projects have been carried out at sev-eral schools in Hawaii, most recently at Wheeler Elementary. The Vegetar-ian Society’s Dr. Bill Harris and Laurie Veatch have been working to introduce legislation supporting the establishment of gardens at schools and other locations. These efforts will help educate children about bet-ter food choices as well as motivate them to make such choices. There’s another benefit that comes from linking up kids (and adults!) with gardening. The garden can become a “playground” of sorts. Experts in the fitness arena point out that gardening can be an excellent form of exercise. A 120-pound per-son, for example, burns about 5 Calories a minute while gardening. This rate is higher than activities such as social dancing (2.9 Calories per minute), golfing and carrying clubs (4.6 Calories per minute), and hiking (4.5 Calories per minute).¹ Typical gardening chores such as turning compost can provide oppor-

tunities to increase strength through-out the body: upper body muscles are utilized when raking, and they as well as lower body muscles are used while digging. Core strength (abdominal/back) is important in all of the activities. And just having kids active and moving around in the garden means they’re spending that time away from the TV and computer games! Growing nutritious, fresh foods and doing something wonder-ful for the body in the process makes for a winning combination. Now look at another benefit. What about planting a garden as a way of beginning to understand the importance of the ahupua`a, the land division extending from the uplands to the sea? What about using organic methods to help protect the land and people from chemical pesticides and herbicides and to protect the ocean from runoff pollutants? What about growing Hawaiian food plants that can be enjoyed and shared with the family? A project that was funded in December 2001 by the Kailua Bay Advisory Council takes this novel approach. Fifth and sixth grade par-ticipants in the Waimanalo-based Hui Malama o ke Kai after-school program will be working with or-ganic farmer Kimberly Clark, PhD to plant a 1.5- acre garden on Univer-sity of Hawai`i land in Waimanalo. Stephanie Kim, staff member for the after-school program, worked dili-gently with Kimberly to come up with a feasible -- and fundable --project that will be educational as well as fun for the keiki. Stephanie reports that “the children are excited to build a garden that will also be their classroom. For some of them this will be their first time planting and harvesting vegetables, especially in a farm setting.” In the meantime Kimberly concentrates on developing

a plan for the garden, which began with a blessing on December 11. She’s planning to grow many foods, including taro, banana, papaya, edi-

ble Hibiscus, Oki-nawan spinach, sweet potato, and Hawaiian pump-kin. She and Stephanie are ex-cited about em-powering our chil-dren with knowl-edge about caring for the land and

the sea; they expect that the children will be eager to eat their “5-A-Day”² from the bounty of the garden.

Here’s a simple garden-based rec-ipe that is one of Kimberly’s favorites.

Kimberly’s Kalo Crisp:

Begin with a layer of WELL COOKED* kalo, then alternate layers of kalo and banana in a baking dish until you have the amount desired. Pour some coconut milk over the layers and top with hemp seeds or chopped nuts such as macadamia nuts. Place in a preheated 350º oven and bake until heated through (about 20 to 30 minutes). Broil a few minutes to toast the top-ping, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. Serve small pieces as a dessert, as this is a rich recipe.

¹ American Council on Exercise, Diggin’ In The Dirt, ACE FitnessMatters, Vol. 3, No. 2. 1997. ² Minimum five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. *The kalo (taro) must be well cooked to avoid painful irritation produced by cal-cium oxalate crystals. See last VSH newsletter articles! Note: To reduce fat/Calories, use less topping and a low-fat version of canned coconut milk, sold in many health foods stores.

* * *

“C hildren are excited to

build a garden that will also be their

classroom.”


Resolutions For A Kinder, Gentler New Year

by Elaine Johnson, MBA

H ave you made any resolutions for the new year yet? If, like

many of us, you have procrastinated in doing this, I offer some sugges-tions that would be beneficial to the planet and all of the creatures who inhabit it. Here are my top 10 resolution picks:

1. Go vegan If you are a vegetarian, you are already most of the way there. Going vegan is the single best thing you can do for your health, for the millions of hapless, non-volunteer food animals that are slaughtered each year, and for the environment. What many people don't realize is that the dairy and egg industries are just as tough on the animals, equally bad for your health, and as harmful to the environment as is the meat industry. Environmen-tally, the chicken and egg business is a major polluter of our waterways. Dairy cows produce tons of waste that also causes pollution. Health- wise, eggs are loaded with choles-terol, and milk has been associated with juvenile onset diabetes and food

allergies; it is also too high in protein to be a useful source of calcium. Dairy cows and laying hens are treated no better than are meat ani-mals, and they also have unnecessar-ily short lives.

2. Adopt an animal Do you have room in your home and heart to add to your family? There are many homeless animals here in the islands; some are literally right under our noses. If a stray cat tries to make friends with you, this could lead to a worthwhile friendship. Even though pet abandonment is illegal in Hawaii, many of the cats we see in our neighborhoods are dumped house pets. If you prefer the company of a dog or want a more controlled method of picking a cat, you could visit our local humane society. Un-adopted animals are put to sleep, so you could save a life.

(See Resolutions on page 16)

Factory Farms? In Hawai’i? …. The Sad Truth

by Cathy Goeggel

A nimal Rights Hawai’i has dis-covered that even in our tiny

island home there exist battery cages for laying hens as well as a motley variety of cages, stalls, and scrap metal enclosures for pigs -- a sort of Rube Goldberg version of mainland intensive livestock incarceration. The resulting misery of the imprisoned animals and the squalid conditions in which they are forced to exist com-bine to make Hawai’i another place that is hell for animals. Drive past the Pacific Poultry killing plant on Nimitz Highway on weekday mornings and you’ll see chickens by the hundreds hanging by their feet from a conveyor belt that

(See The Sad Truth on page 12)

Don't vegetarians have difficulty getting enough protein?

In the United States our problem is too much protein, not too little. Most Americans get about seven times more protein than they need. You can get plenty of protein from whole wheat bread, oatmeal, beans, corn, peas -- even mushrooms or broccoli. Almost every food contains protein. Unless you eat a great deal of junk food, it's almost impos-sible to eat as many calories as you need for good health without getting enough pro-tein. By contrast, too much protein is the major cause of osteoporosis and contributes to kidney failure and other diseases of affluence. (Source: PETA.com)

Animal Rights Hawaii P.O. Box 10845 Honolulu, HI 96816 (808)941-9476

www.AnimalRightsHawaii.org Email: [email protected]

What You Can Do

Enter Competitions

Enter your vegan recipes into cooking competitions and bake sales, and make it clear that no animal ingredients were used. Dan Handley, a chef at the Virginia Beach Hil-ton Hotel, won a barbecue cookoff contest with his ve-gan recipe!

You Can Save the Animals: 251 Simple Ways to Stop Thoughtless Cruelty (1998), by Ingrid Newkirk. Available at PETA.com.

Animal Rights Corner


The Millennium Cookbook

Millennium Fruit Crisp

Makes 8 servings

W e serve this dessert through-out the year with a gamut of

different fruit combinations.* Dur-ing the winter we serve some com-binations of apples, pears, persim-mons, cranberries, and blueberries, and in the spring, apples, strawber-ries, blueberries, and ginger. In the summer we use peaches, plums, and fresh berries, and in the fall we’re back to apples, pears, ginger, and perhaps some figs.

Oat Topping

2 cups rolled oats 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (optional) 1/8 teaspoon sea salt 1/3 cup maple syrup

Filling

8 cups berries and/or cubed seasonal fruit

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3/4 cup maple syrup 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and

minced 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons arrowroot

To make the oat topping: Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a sided baking dish with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine the oats, cinnamon, and sea salt. Stir until combined, then stir in the maple syrup. Spread the oats on the prepared pan and toast for 10 minutes or until they appear dry. Let cool. Leave the oven at 350º.

To make the fruit filling: In a large bowl combine the berries and fruit. Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, maple syrup, ginger, and lemon juice. Mix until combined. In a blender combine one third of the fruit mixture with the arrowroot and puree until smooth. Pour the pureed mixture back into the bowl and mix.

Pour the fruit mixture into an un-greased 9x9-inch baking dish and bake for about 35 minutes or until it begins to bubble and has thickened. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the crisp from the oven and allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. If you like, serve with Vanilla Sauce on page 223 or any sorbet found in this book (The Millennium Cook-book).

Nutritional Information per Serving

Calories: 310 % of Calories from Fat: 6 Protein: 4g Carbohydrates: 69g Fat: 2g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 75mg Fiber: 7g

Blackberry Sorbet

Makes about 4 cups

B lackberry sorbet is a real treat on its own or garnished with

some fresh berries -- raspberries and strawberries create a wonderful con-trast of taste and color. You can serve this sorbet in a wine glass.

6 cups fresh blackberries 1 cup water 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup Sucanat pinch sea salt

In a blender puree the blackber-ries. Strain them through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Rinse the blender and pour the blackberry pu-ree back into it. Add the water, lemon juice, Sucanat, and salt. Blend until well combined. Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s in-structions. To make granita style, pour the mixture into a large shallow baking dish and place it in the freezer. Stir the mixture every hour for 4 to 6 hours or until frozen. Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 days. After 4 days the sorbet may become icy; when this hap-pens, it can be melted and refrozen.

Nutritional Information per Half Cup

Calories: 104 % of Calories from fat: 0 Protein: 0.4g Carbohydrates: 26g Fat: 0g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 5mg Fiber: 1g

*The Millennium Restaurant, San Francisco

The Millennium Cookbook, by Erik Tucker; John Westerdahl, MPH, RD, CNS; Sascha Weiss - 1998, Ten Speed Press


Vegetarian Way

by Helen Wells, MA

I n my last essay I asked that others judge me not by where I eat, but

by what I eat. This made me start to think a lot about judgment, and par-ticularly about self-evaluation. I real-ized that it was time for me to re-evaluate myself, where I am along the Vegetarian Highway, and where I want to go with vegetarianism next.

Some of the issues I'm deal-ing with right now include my piece of leather furniture, my leather shoes, honey, mother of pearl, silk clothing, a feather duster, coral beads, etc.

I also have to sort through my feelings about issues that pit the gen-eral good against that of the individ-ual. For example, do I boycott a vegetarian store that is accused of discriminating against certain em-ployees or do I continue to patronize that store because of its tremendous efforts on behalf of vegetarians? An-other toughie: one of the religious organizations of which I am a mem-ber advocates a healthy diet, yet it offers a cooked snapper on an altar almost every month. How do I feel about this, and what should I say and do about it?

I have to make a decision about where I stand. I also need to be able to justify my decision to myself. The path of vegetarianism takes me far-ther each year.

I admire the doctors, scientists,

professional writers, and animal rights activists who have brought the big and small vegetarian issues to our attention. They are the leaders of the dawning Vegetarian Era because they have accepted the consequences of taking on a vegetarian philosophy and lifestyle. I admire and support the vegetarians who are working within established government and religious organizations, using their influence to change those organiza-tions toward vegetarian philosophies and lifestyles.

I have to ask myself, am I work-ing at the front line of my con-science? Am I making the hard deci-sions? Am I making progress? Am I getting where my heart, mind, and soul want me to go? Am I gathering enough information to make in-formed decisions? The better in-formed I am, the stronger my deci-sion. The stronger my decision, the better my ability to act upon it.

Perhaps "deciding and acting" is a better way of thinking about self-evaluation than "judging," anyhow. At any rate, I'm taking the time for the mental work I need for making decisions about vegetarian and ani-mal rights issues, and I hope that when we meet again I'll be farther along the path.

Addendum: Since I first wrote this essay some weeks ago, I decided to get rid of much of my leather and silk, and I'm phasing out the rest of it as it wears out. I didn't realize how much silk was in my house until I started to think about it. I think I'm typical of a lot of modern consumers who need to educate themselves as to where things come from. In the mod-ern world we're so removed from the manufacture of goods we consume, that we often don't have a clue about this.

Thai Kitchen Dineout Enjoyed by All


O ur first restaurant dineout in several years was held recently

at Thai Kitchen in Waipahu. Eight people attended, including people new to the Vegetarian Society as well as old friends. Diners came from as far as downtown and Makaha Valley to enjoy this event. The restaurant is a casual, small, friendly place that has been serving good food and catering to vegetari-ans for years.

The dishes were interesting and fresh tasting, as usual. My favorite is vegetable curry, a delicious blend of coconut, curry, tofu, and lots of al dente vegetables. Several people chose the salad at varying degrees of heat. All were generous portions of fresh veggies in a nice vegan sauce. The garlic vegetable dish was a sub-tle blend of garlic with tofu and a va-riety of fresh vegetables. The Pad Thai got high marks also. Many in-viting dishes remain to be tried.

We hope to make dineouts a regular VSH event again. They’re a great way to meet other vegetarians and to find new restaurants.

HELP WANTED!

H elp spread the VSH message in our commu-

nity. Several important volun-teer positions need to be filled. Call 944-VEGI (8344) for more information. You can make a difference!


What to do about Weevils

by Helen Wells, MA

U sually I don't have fits over insects. There was one time

on Guam when I went to Talafofo waterfall to splash around and quickly found baby leeches sucking on various parts of my body. It is an understatement to say that I freaked out that time.

The second place incident would be this year when I had a frightening encounter with weevils. One of the little things actually bit me while I sat meditating at home one day, and I knew I could not remain in denial about their infestation any longer. When I finally caught one of the in-sects and inspected it up close, I was terrified. I know they are a form of their function, but before I knew

what their function was, I was terri-fied. What was this little snouty thing that had bitten me?

I had not yet associated it with the grains in my kitchen. I had never had a weevil problem before. I had heard of boll weevils; that was it.

There were some boxes of grains on my top shelves that I hadn't exam-ined since I'd put them there months ago. I inspected them and found that weevils had attacked all my dry goods. I know that weevils are God's creatures, but something primitive arose in me -- that cave woman feel-ing that my food supply, my food stores, were ruined was quite primi-tive, quite physical, cellular within me.

I don't know for certain how the weevils got into my home. I thought they came in with a bag of wild rice; therefore, I thought they were rice weevils. I found a very useful web-site on weevils, www.ag.ohiostate.edu that told me, "Adult rice weevil is a dull reddish-brown with round or irregularly shaped pits on the thorax and four light spots on the wing cov-ers" and "the granary weevil cannot fly, whereas the rice weevil can fly…." Having been dive-bombed by one of my weevils, I felt confident that I was indeed dealing with a rice weevil. (There’s also a maize weevil "similar to the rice weevil, but lar-ger.") This web site offers drawings of the types of weevils, so I feel that my identification was accurate.

I was amazed when I found the body of a weevil stuck halfway through a very thick plastic bag. This showed me that these insects have quite a bit of determination. I refuse to do any kind of fumigation, so I decided to throw out all the contami-nated grains (that regrettably in-cluded boxes of cereals, pastas, flours, etc. -- a lot), mourn my loss, and then invest in thick plastic con-tainers. This was also what the web site advocated, for the weevils are determined enough to get through even thin plastic containers. The in-

vestment in the thick plastic, airtight containers paid off immediately and permanently. Thankfully, I am ever since devoid of weevils.

Here are the lessons I learned from my weevil encounter: Inspect all dried goods at the store and again when bringing them into the home. Look for tiny black-snout insects. Don't buy anything that moves. At home, immediately transfer the dried goods into clean, dry, thick plastic containers. Store in a dry place. Make sure the plastic containers are sealed airtight. If even one weevil is found, assume that there is infesta-tion and check every package thor-oughly.

May all your encounters with in-sects be good ones!

Important Dates

January

14 Albert Schweitzer’s Birthday “Think occasionally of the suf-

fering of which you spare your-self the sight.”

21 Martin Luther King’s Birth-day (observed) “The arc of his-tory is long, but it bends towards justice.”

30 Mohandas Gandhi Assassi-nated: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

February

18 President’s Day “I care not much for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.” Abraham Lincoln

March - National Nutrition Month

20 Great American Meatout

(The Sad Truth from page 9)

will deliver them to the killing floor where they will have their throats slit -- no pre-stunning to ameliorate their suffering -- that’s island fresh! ARH has observed pigs living in filth and darkness, confinement, and misery at many farms across O’ahu. We have visited farms that are in di-rect violation of State health codes and federal law. We have reported the violations to the proper govern-ment agencies, but still pigs suffer whilst the wheels of justice slowly grind. In the 2002 Hawai’i Legislative session we’ll be asking for your sup-port for a bill, introduced by Senator Suzanne Chun-Oakland, that will set standards for housing of pigs. These standards will require humane hous-ing, including bedding, space, and light. This bill will not prohibit pig farming, but it will remove the eco-nomic benefits of cruelty and will, we believe, require an overhaul of the local livestock industry. The po-tential impact on the industry is sub-stantial. Please check our website www.animalrightshawaii.org for updates.


Feelin’ Green!

by Marcia Deutch, MA

Brussels Sprouts with Fennel Seed

1 teaspoon fennel seeds 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed 1/3 cup vegetable broth (more if

needed) cider vinegar freshly ground pepper

Warm a nonstick skillet and lightly spray with vegetable oil. Add the fen-nel seeds and toast lightly. Add the Brussels sprouts and broth, cover and simmer until tender. If the skillet be-comes dry, add small amounts of broth or water as needed. Toss with cider vinegar, pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Colcannon

This is a tasty Irish classic, perfect for St. Patrick’s Day. Celebrate!

2 cups finely chopped cabbage 3 scallions, sliced white and green

parts 4 large potatoes, cooked and coarsely

mashed 1 cup soymilk 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley freshly ground pepper

Warm a nonstick skillet and lightly spray with vegetable oil. Add the cabbage and sauté, covered, over moderate beat. Lift the lid and stir occasionally until limp. Add the scal-lions and sauté, uncovered, until the cabbage begins to turn golden. If the skillet becomes dry, add small amounts of water as needed. Com-bine the potatoes and soymilk in a mixing bowl and stir together. Turn the heat up to moderately high and

stir the potatoes and parsley in with the cabbage mixture in the skillet. Sauté without stirring until the bot-tom of the mixture gets nicely browned. Fluff with spoon and sea-son to taste. Serve hot.

Kale with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup finely chopped onions 3/4 cup vegetable broth 6 cups kale, finely chopped 1/2 C sun-dried tomatoes coarsely

chopped and soaked in water un-til soft.

Warm a nonstick skillet and lightly spray with vegetable oil. Add garlic and onions; sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth and greens. Re-duce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes; toss with greens. Cook 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve hot.

Sesame Broccoli

The dressing for the broccoli in this recipe can be used on any seasonal green.

1 teaspoon pureed fresh gingerroot 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 pounds broccoli florets 1 tablespoon sesame seeds freshly ground pepper

Whisk together ginger, soy sauce, oil, and lemon juice in a shallow serving bowl. Set aside. Steam broccoli until crisp-tender. Transfer to serving bowl and toss with ginger sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immedi-ately. Add freshly ground pepper to taste.

Spinach with Pine Nuts

4 cloves garlic, minced 1 pound well-rinsed coarsely

chopped spinach leaves 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons lightly toasted pine

nuts freshly ground pepper

Warm a nonstick skillet and lightly spray with vegetable oil. Add the gar-lic and stir-fry for about 1 minute, taking care not to burn. Add the spin-ach and continue to stir-fry briefly, just until wilted but still bright green. Remove the skillet from the heat and add the lemon juice and pepper. Serve immediately. Garnish with the pine nuts. Add freshly ground pepper to taste.

Wilted Mustard Greens with Kalamata Olives

2 tablespoons prepared stone-ground mustard

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 4 scallions, sliced thin 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 pound mustard greens, well rinsed

and coarsely chopped 2 tablespoons chopped pitted

Kalamata olives (2 to 4) freshly ground pepper.

Whisk together the mustard and vine-gar; set aside. Warm a nonstick skil-let and lightly spray with vegetable oil. Add the scallions and garlic; stir-fry for about 1 minute, being careful not to burn. If the skillet becomes dry, add small amounts of water as needed. Gradually add the greens, stir-frying until they wilt but are still colorful. Stir in the mustard and vine-gar mixture and season with pepper.

(See Green on page 20)

On the Menu…

Recipes from our members


Know Your Produce: Part I

by Helen Wells, MA

I had a long talk with Tim Anthony, produce manager at Down to Earth

Natural Foods on South King Street near University Avenue, and was able to ask many ques-tions about particular vegetables. We started with persimmons. “Not many people know that there are two kinds of persimmons, fuyu and hachiya. Hachiya, sometimes referred to as Japa-nese persimmons, are pointy and somewhat elongated. They’re meant to go totally soft, to where you would think they're overripe. You eat them like jelly,” Tim said. You don't eat the dark skin or the seeds. If you eat them before they’re ripe, they pucker your mouth. The fuyu is larger, rounder, more tomato-shaped and may be eaten while still crisp, like an apple. It's a little whiter in color. Over-ripe fuyu persimmon can still be made into great breads or cookies. Next we looked at pomelo, the lo-cal grapefruit, which has a very thick skin. Some are juicy and some are dry. Tim indicated that many people don't like pomelo because it's so much work to get to the inside. These fruits range from light green to pale yellow and are larger than a regular grapefruit. Tim noted next that, “The Casaba melon is a summer item, and, like all melons, best when a little soft, when there’s a little bit of give on one end.” He stopped at one of his favorite items, Frog Hollow Farms peach jam, sold in the produce department. This is an or-ganic jam and is available when fresh

peaches are not. We then moved on to the pineap-ple section. First we examined sugar-loaf white pineapple. This is a special variety, low acid, very sweet and mel-low. Regular pineapples are acidic and strong, and you feel them on your tongue and in your stomach. “We also have yellow low-acid varieties. We carry Maui Gold; Dole and Del Monte

also put out Hawai-ian Gold pineapples that are not acidic.” I asked if any of these were genetically modified. “They're good cross breeds. It's our policy not to carry anything ge-netically modified.” Sugarloaf are very seasonal, available only a few months a year. “We have or-ganic pineapple grown by Maui Pineapple. Unfortu-nately they mixed up low acid and the

higher acid varieties, so you don't know for sure if you're getting a low acid or not. However, every one that I've had has been sweet. I've never had one that wasn't a superior flavor,” Tim indicated. Leaving the pineapples, we dis-cussed breadfruit. Tim said this can be eaten two ways. When it's hard like a potato, one can take the skin off and cut it up to be boiled, baked, or made into fried chips. And when the texture is that of a cross between potato and taro, when its inside is white in color and a bit pasty, it still can be cooked in the above-noted potato-like ways. “If you let it sit and get totally soft like a soft banana, then it's sweet. Cooking it with some pineapple, coconut milk, sweetener, and cinnamon makes a good dessert.” ‘That's pretty much the way they eat it in the Marshall Islands," I com-mented. "Looks like it has a thick

green skin. It looks like some serious knife work to cut that up.” “That's true, and it has a sticky resin that coats your knife,” Tim an-swered. It's an unusual item similar to pomelo in that some people find it too much work. “Does the white resin on the out-side tell me anything about its ripe-ness?” I asked. “Well, sometimes you see that on the tree, just oozing out, and that’s a good indication of ripeness, but an-other indication would be if it also runs down the side when it's cut.” “To somebody who doesn't know about it, and they just see the white stuff, they’re going to think, ‘Oh, this has spray on it.’” “No, that’s totally resin.” “So this particular batch was from a local farmer.” “Yeah.”

TO BE CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE

What’s Cooking?

Here are some vegan cooking classes being held this quarter:

Kapi’olani Women’s Center 535-7000

Jan. 5: “The Vegetarian Pantry “ Jan. 12: “Beyond Two Scoops” (learn many ways to use rice) Feb. 9: “From the Heart – Quick Tricks for Special Meals” Mar. 23: “Springtime Salads” Down To Earth Lifestyle Center

947-7678

Jan. 5: “Cooking with Super Nutritious Spirilina,” Andrew and Kim Arakawa Feb. 2: “Heart Healthy Recipes,”

Yana Lehua Mar. 2: “2nd Spring Salads,” Carol Lent

Call in advance for fee, location, time, and registration.

Tim Anthony, Down To Earth Pro-duce Manager


The Transforma-tive Work of Antonia Demas by Kekai Irwin

“Nothing will benefit health and in-crease the chances for survival of life on Earth as the evolution to a vegetar-ian diet.” Albert Einstein

A ntonia Demas, PhD of upstate New York has effectively pro-

moted in over 60 public schools a hands-on curriculum called "Food is Elementary,” which aims to increase the “food literacy” of students. The curriculum is 100% vegan and has re-ceived an award for the most creative implementation of the USDA guide-lines. Students learn essential nutrition concepts and cooking skills through experiential learning that integrates subjects from science and math to art and dance. They collaboratively pre-pare Three Sisters Stew from native America; Egyptian Barley Salad with artichoke hearts, leeks, and peas; hum-mus from the Middle East; and other legume recipes from around the globe. While gaining awareness and apprecia-tion for the traditions of other parts of the globe, they come to accept new plant-based foods prepared by their own hands. “I tried serving healthy stuff and they threw most of it in the rubbish can.” This is a common defense of food service managers for continuing to serve school meals with frightening levels of fat and cholesterol. Dr. De-mas’ work provides a resounding two-part answer to this legitimate concern: 1) we need to liberate our curricula from industry influences (the American Dairy Council, fast food chains, and soda vendors, to name a few) and inte-grate wholesome nutrition lessons in the classroom, and 2) the cafeteria can become an extension of these lessons with teachers and food service person-nel working together to create new die-tary patterns in our society. In her doc-

toral work at Cornell Dr. Demas showed, through meticulous field re-search in classrooms and cafeterias, that students who participated in her curriculum accepted the same vegan foods when they were served in the regular school meal program. When I learned about this ground-breaking work, I nearly jumped out of my seat. I’m a vegan of 12 years and a nutrition curricu-lum developer and tester at a small Hawaiian immer-sion school, Ke Kula o Samuel M. Kamakau, in Kailua. I immedi-ately ordered a copy of Food is Elementary and began trying it out with our students. The curriculum worked beautifully in the Hawaiian language and cul-tural setting of the school. The end result of this new approach to teaching nutrition was a Hawaiian language cur-riculum, Nä Ono Puni Honua, incorpo-rating vegetarian versions of many of the ethnic foods characteristic of Ha-waii. Dr. Demas’ recent visit here was a major part of a professional develop-ment workshop that our school coordi-nated for Hawaiian language immer-sion teachers across the state. Dr. Demas’ non-profit Food Studies Institute recently completed research in a residential school for male juvenile delinquents in Miami, Florida, where a group of culinary arts students voluntarily adopted a plant-based diet for one month. The students experienced remarkable changes, documented by lab tests, behavioral and academic records, and the students’ own eloquent personal journals. One student wrote that “while on the vegan diet I was full of energy. My mind would stay focused, I was looking better, and it was easier to

wake up.” This student’s GPA rose from from a 2.9 to a 3.7. Over half the students had significant drops in cho-lesterol, all had rises in GPA, and all but one had improved behavior to the extent that they were released early. These and other amazing results are being analyzed. Dr. Demas is also planning a larger scale follow-up study with juvenile groups in several cities,

possibly including Hawaii. Meeting Dr. Demas was a great inspiration. Here is someone with a powerful vision and a clear meth-odology for achieving it. As global population continues to swell toward 8 to 10 bil-lion in this cen-tury, placing more pressure on al-ready stressed wa-ter sources and food production

systems, I believe her work will play a vital role in facilitating the shift to-wards a more plant-based diet, a shift that is rapidly becoming a global ethi-cal imperative.

“F or all too many hu-mans, the first decision

they consciously make about their health is the stark one be-tween by-pass surgery and an-gioplasty or between chemo-therapy and radiation. In real-ity, however, we knowingly make choices every day that can either lead us toward these grim options or else toward happier ones. We do so, of course, every time we decide what fuel to put in our bodies.”

Howard Lyman

Students on the diet pre-scribed by Dr. Demas wrote:

"Sometimes when i want to be mad, I just be calm...I think well and clear now...I think positive, always have a positive frame of mind...I am not go-ing to go back out in society and do what I did to come to (this reform school). i am going to use my tal-ent and take it to another level...I have felt way better towards my-self...I used to have all C's, now I have only A's and B's...I feel like I am making more mature decisions for myself...I was able to run longer and lift more weight than before."


(Resolutions from page 9)

3. Volunteer Our own Vegetarian So-ciety and Animal Rights Hawaii are always looking for enthusiastic people to help out. Many other worthwhile organizations would also welcome your help.

4. Have a cruelty-free household Do you know if you have things in your home that were tested on animals or contain animal ingredients? There are numerous books that tell which compa-nies still test on animals or use animal ingredients. You can also find this in-formation online at the PETA website and others.

5. Dress humanely Choose synthetics or natural plant fibers for your cloth-ing, accessories, and shoes.

6. Invest wisely Avoid buying stocks that are unfriendly to human health, animals, or the environment. If you al-ready own such stocks, use your own-ership status to tell the company man-

agement your views on their practices.

7. Pay attention to politics Each year many bills that involve health, animals, and the environment are introduced nationally as well as at the state and city level. Give your views on these bills to your elected officials. Your in-put can make a difference.

8. Speak out Share your views on these issues with your acquaintances -- often. People generally need to hear a new idea more than once for it to make a lasting impression.

9. Help animals in trouble If you see animal abuse, call the Hawaiian Hu-mane Society and also report the inci-dent to the police. If a dog in your neighborhood lives its life staked to a 5-foot chain and never gets walked, consider asking your neighbor if you can walk him. Stop to help injured ani-mals.

10. Donate Support organizations that you think can make a difference.

Thanksgiving Eve Dinner Draws 150


T he VSH annual Thanksgiving Eve dinner took place this year at

Govinda's for the second year in a row. Approximately 150 people dined on vegan holiday favorites and enjoyed

the festive atmosphere. The restaurant is located at the Hare Krishna temple, an old mansion with large, tranquil rooms and beauti-ful private back yard seating. Although temple president Kusha (the first woman president of the temple) and staff are comparatively new, the dinner arrangements fell nicely into place. In attendance were both old and new friends. Some wanted to learn

more about our organization and picked up membership applications. We thank everyone who partici-pated in this special event and helped to make the evening so enjoyable. Editor’s note: Thank you, Elaine, for again arranging this event!

* * *

Pictured (from left): Pete Hamer, Elaine French, Jerry Smith, Jeff Gore, Brian Hart, Elaine Johnson, Julie Hamer

On TV...

“Animal Rights” Olelo, Channel 52

Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

“McDougall, M.D.” KHET, Cable Channel 11

Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.

“Vegetarian” Olelo, Channel 52

Thursdays at 7 p.m.

“Braceface” Orthodontically-challenged teen

struggling with life and being newly vegan on

Fox Family, Olelo Ch. 30 Check your local listings

...and Radio

Nutrition and You Ruth Heidrich, PhD Terry Shintani, MD

John Westerdahl, PhD Sundays 8-9 p.m. K108 (AM 1080)

Call-in line: 524-1080

Health Talk Hosted by Hesh

Saturdays 8-9 a.m. K108 (AM 1080)

Call-in line: 524-1080

Go Vegan with Bob Linden Listen on the Internet

New Time: Wednesdays 7-8 p.m. www.GoVeganRadio.com


Volunteer Appreciation Dinner Held

by Karl Seff, PhD

I t doesn't work, it just doesn't work, without volunteers. With only a sin-

gle exception in the handling of our financial matters, we in the VSH are all volunteers. Even our bookkeeper, Al-lene Ishikawa, volunteers plenty extra hours of her time. Our Third Annual Volunteer Ap-preciation Dinner took place on Sun-day, November 11 at Chiang Mai Thai Cuisine on South King Street. Two long tables were set up for us in the deeper half of the restaurant, and there were twenty-five people in attendance, including honorees and significant oth-ers. Most folks dressed up pretty, and the food was both delicious and volu-minous; the last course was boxes and bags for bundling up the excess to take home. This was a most cordial event with lots of conversation and good stand-up conversations both before and afterwards. Folks who came on time and left when it was over missed some good party time. And we needed no speeches to remind us who we are, what we do, and that everyone else present was grateful. Our president, Alida Rutchick, and ARH co-founder Cathy Goeggel were honored with beautiful leis. Invitations were mailed to about thirty people who had helped the VSH significantly during the year with ser-vice of various kinds, including tabling at community events, assisting with our vegan Thanksgiving for the home-less, contributing articles to this news-

letter and editing it, setting up and breaking down at our meetings, taping our speakers and scheduling tapes with Olelo, working with the legislature, and additional heavy-duty service to the board and to the community. Marcia Deutch produced some beauti-ful invitations (too good to throw away when it was all over) on her computer and mailed them out. Please help our cause. Please volun-teer for something. Do what you need to do to get your-self invited next year.

Editor’s note: Thank you, Karl, for arranging this im-portant annual VSH event.

(Origins from page 3)

cants who call themselves ranchers and dairymen. From 1993 to the present VSH op-posed all of the bills for these give-aways, but about $10.5 million got through in spite of our efforts.

Source: Hawaii Legislature records

All of the essential organic nutri-ents in the human diet are synthesized by plants and microorganisms, none of them by animals. So the question is: why do humans keep eating animal

foods in spite of the ecological, ethical, and health issues associated with their use?

Source: Lindner M. Nutritional Bio-chemistry and Metabolism. Elsevier Science Publishing Co., New York, 1985 ISBN 0-444-01241-9. p 70-71 (nutrient origins)

Our government prides itself on its war against addiction, in which it spends ~$7 billion a year protecting us from ourselves. The really serious ad-dictions -- alcohol and tobacco -- it actually supports, so perhaps we

should add one more. About 5% of the U.S. population is vegetarian, so if we hypothesize that animal food belongs up there with alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs, the chart above shows how the addic-tion pie actually looks.

Source: U.S. Na-tional Center for

Health Statistics, Vital Statistics of the United States, annual; and National Vital Statistics Reports (NVSR) for-merly Monthly Vital Statistics Report); and unpublished data.


(Nutrition Update from page 4)

Some Approximate Calcium Contents of Foods

300 mg of Calcium • Cows milk, 8 ounces (not recom-

mended) • Fortified soy or rice milk, 8 ounces • Fortified orange juice or V-8 Juice,

8 ounces

200 mg of Calcium • Blackstrap molasses, 1 tablespoon • Collard greens, ½ cup, cooked • Tofu, calcium-set, ½ cup • Soy cheese, 1 ounce

100 mg of Calcium • Turnip greens, kale, or broccoli, ½

cup, cooked • Soy nuts, ½ cup • Instant oatmeal, 1 package • Dried figs, 5

75 mg of Calcium • Almond butter or tahini, 2 table-

spoons • Bok choy or mustard greens, ½ cup • Tempeh, ½ cup

50 mg of Calcium • Navy beans, great northern beans,

or black beans, ½ cup, cooked • Vegetarian baked beans, ½ cup • Orange, 1 medium • Almonds, 2 tablespoons

John Westerdahl is Director of Health Promotion and Nutritional Services at Castle Medical Center in Kailua. He also serves as the Hawaii State Coor-dinator for the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of The Ameri-can Dietetic Association. He is Nutri-tion Editor for Veggie Life magazine, coauthor of The Millennium Cook-book: Extraordinary Vegetarian Cui-sine, and co-host of the Honolulu talk radio show, Nutrition and You on KWAI 1080 AM Radio (8 p.m. Sun-days).

* * *

Book Review

by Helen Wells, MA

V ictor, the Vegetarian, Saving the Little Lambs, by Radha

Vignola, illustrated by Julia Bauer, was published in 1994 by Aviva!, P.O. Box 1471, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1471. I’ve enjoyed giving this book to vegetarian friends who have children. This is the simple story of a little boy named Victor who lives on a farm and becomes attached to two baby lambs. When he overhears his father talking about eating lamb chops, he runs away to the woods with the lambs. His parents discover that he is missing and realize what has happened. When the lambs get hungry, they begin to cry, and Vic-tor's parents follow the sound. Victor cries for his parents not to kill his

lambs. He says, "They're my friends, and I don't ever want lamb chops again." The lambs are reunited with the sheep, and at a family discussion Victor says he doesn't want to eat any other animals, either. He plans to go to the library to find out what else he can eat, and his parents suggest that he eat more vegetables from their garden. Victor is now a vegetar-ian. The illustrations are cute. The story is written at about second grade level. The book is in paperback, and the last one I bought cost $6.95. The ISBN is 0-9640394-2-7. Order sev-eral copies, then just give them out as your friends and family have chil-dren.

This tribute to Mohandas Gandhi stands in a peaceful banyan-shaded park in Waikiki not far from the infor-mation booth at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu Avenues. Dedicated in 1990, the statue was presented to the people of Hawaii by the Gandhi Me-morial International Foundation (the Jhamandas Watumull Fund was the major benefactor). An inscription quotes the Mahatma (great soul), “It is possible to live in peace.” Visitors to the statue sometimes leave leis and food, and if you look deeply into the Mahatma’s venerable eyes and ask his advice, he just might provide the answers you seek. Gandhi was a staunch supporter of a vegetarian diet. Early in his adult life he was a volunteer with the London Vegetarian Society, and he promoted vegetarianism throughout his life. He once said he would live 125 years. But after surviving nine attempts on his life, three bullets from an assas-sin’s pistol penetrated his chest, and on January 30, 1948, Mohandas Karam-chand Gandhi was dead. He was 78. Albert Einstein, another promoter of vegetarianism, said, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.”


(Farewell from page 1)

Jerry

Jerry can't remember when he was-n't a sports participant and enthusiast. Raised in Southern California, after college he was a professional baseball pitcher with the San Francisco Giants' farm team before becoming an airline baggage handler. He later moved to the airfreight department, from which he retired last June. Like Elaine, Jerry en-joyed Big Macs, Double Cheeseburg-ers, and fat-filled dairy products. Al-though he ran marathons and consid-ered himself a fit hard-body, he had to work at keeping his weight down. In the early 80's he and his family moved to Hawaii. His transition to a vegetarian diet began around 1983 when his children experienced health problems. A friend suggested that he listen to what John McDougall had to say. He did, and after some thought came to the conclusion that changing his family's diet might improve his children's health. A person of action not liking the gradual approach to any-thing, he went home one day and "cleaned out" his food supply. He trashed it all and slammed down the lid in a flash of sanity -- or insanity, de-pending on your point of view -- his wife viewed his action as an act of lu-nacy. Further complicating matters, he had no real idea of what or how to pre-pare food for his envisioned new life-style. Undaunted, he ploughed straight ahead with bold, desperate determina-tion. He began doing all the cooking, and for the next several years his fam-ily subsisted on steamed vegetables, lasagna, brown rice, spaghetti, and oat-meal. By the fall of 1986, realizing that he needed some new ideas, Jerry en-rolled in one of Elaine's cooking classes. This is where the friendship began that culminated in the creation of the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii and Elaine and Jerry's far-off, way-out, Elvis-guided marriage ceremony in Las Vegas at San Francisco Sally's. More about that later.

Elaine & Jerry

Elaine and Jerry began dating after Jerry's divorce (Elaine's healthy grad student had drifted onto a divergent path). In 1989 they attended a vegetar-ian convention in Arcata, California, where they learned how to organize a vegetarian group. 1989 also saw Jerry active in the Great American Meatout. He got his name splashed in a few pa-pers and received many friendly calls from people who would later support his and Elaine's nascent vegetarian or-ganization, later to be called VSH. Dr. McDougall had moved from Hawaii around 1986, leaving behind an assem-blage of devoted followers and vege-tarians. With his departure, the McDougall-style cooking demonstra-tions and potlucks waned, as did his lectures. A hollow spot remained among his sad supporters. However, after the convention in Arcata Elaine and Jerry knew what to do. They formed a vegetarian organization, set up a lecture series, and encouraged potluck suppers. Years of exhausting work and commitment resulted in the present VSH organization, one of the largest in the country.

Getting Personal

Readers might enjoy hearing about Elaine's personal interests. She obvi-ously likes nutrition, cooking, and serving the public. But did you know that she uses “The Firm” videotapes along with yoga, hiking, and weight lifting to stay fit? She also enjoys for-eign films; she has scuba dived all over the Pacific and has traveled extensively in Asia; she enjoys reading news and finance; and she continues to enjoy travel to out-of-the-way destinations. Elaine became a vegetarian first for environmental concerns, second for issues of health, and third because of her interest in animal rights. Feeling most knowledgeable about nutrition, she focuses her energy and commit-ment on that aspect of vegetarianism. Jerry's interests are sports: baseball, football, basketball, hiking, and moun-

tain bikes. Perhaps his strongest attrib-ute is his open, friendly manner. He enjoys talking to people and has done a superb job manning the VSH book ta-ble over these many years. In this posi-tion he never missed an opportunity to “talk story” about vegetarianism. Once Jerry helplessly witnessed his dog Rocky being killed by a sadistic motor-ist. Rocky was on his leash well off the road, and the car intentionally veered off the highway, barely missed Jerry, and hit Rocky full force. Although Jerry has participated in animal rights protests in the past and obviously em-pathizes with the movement, he, like Elaine, now commits himself to nutri-tion and physical health. One should add that the “dynamic duo” live with a cat named Pumpkin who especially likes corn and broccoli. Their dog Daisy (1989-2001) came from the Hu-mane Society to live with them after Rocky's sad demise, just as the Vege-tarian Society came together. Daisy departed this world as Jerry and Elaine began packing to leave Hawaii and the Vegetarian Society. She was a loyal, loving companion whose life marked the beginning and ending of Elaine and Jerry's active VSH involvement.

Why Journey To Zion?

Jerry and Elaine are leaving Ha-waii to help establish a vegetarian fit-ness resort near Southern Utah's Zion National Park. Patrons will be sur-prised by the healthy vegan meals they'll be served and will enjoy exer-cise opportunities such as hiking, yoga, and aerobics, including water aerobics. The resort will promote a healthy life-style, science-based lectures, exercise, and nutrition to minimize or avoid can-cer, heart disease, obesity, and diabe-tes. In Elaine and Jerry's new life there they will enthusiastically continue to promote vegetarianism. They look for-ward to hiking, taking pictures with their new digital camera, and riding mountain bikes in their spare time. Elaine will retire from her flight atten-dant career as soon as the resort is ready.

(See Elaine & Jerry on page 20)


(Elaine & Jerry from page 19)

Elvis and San Francisco Sally's

Last year Elaine and Jerry were married at San Francisco Sally's Wed-ding Chapel in Las Vegas in a cere-mony led by "Elvis." Elaine wore a 1920 flapper outfit, and Jerry dressed as a riverboat gambler. They ex-

changed wedding bands with a gold "carrot" (the edi-ble type) wrapped around each ring. After a spirited rendition of "Viva Las Ve-gas" and the tra-ditional "I do's,"

family and friends headed for a vegan feast. Elvis skipped the meal but re-minded both of them, "Don't be cruel," as he left the building. That is how Elaine and Jerry got married. "Viva Las Vegas!"

Aloha

Jerry and Elaine, you will be missed. Thank you both for your com-mitment to vegetarianism, your organ-izational skills, and your friendship. Return soon and aloha. May a fair wind always be at your back and may calm seas lie before you. Don't forget to eat your vegetables and always wear a helmet when riding mountain bikes.

Dave Crooks “It is a man's sympathy with all creatures that truly makes him a man. Until he ex-tends his circle of compassion to all living things, man him-self will not find peace.”

Albert Schweitzer 1875—1965

NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID

HONOLULU, HI PERMIT NO. 645

Vegetarian Society of Hawaii P.O. Box 23208 Honolulu, Hawaii USA 96823-3208 Address Service Requested

(Green from page 13)

and salt. Stir in the olives. Serve imme-diately.

1) Brussel Sprouts with Fennel Seed: The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen, Peter Berley 2) Colcannon: Vegetarian Celebrations, Nava Atlas 3) Kale with Sun Dried Tomatoes: Calci-Yum!, David and Rachelle Bronfman 4) Sesame Broccoli: www.vegetariantimes.com, 7/00 5) Spin with Pine Nuts: Stir Crazy!, Susan Jane Cheney

Note: These recipes have been slightly modified from the published versions.

Bay Area Veg. Fair

Heidrich Featured Speaker

T he first annual Bay Area Veg. Fair will be held at the Santa

Clara Convention Center on Febru-ary 9. There will be national speak-ers, free vegetarian food samples, cooking demonstrations, a restaurant fair, a veg. bookstore, and more! Speakers include John Robbins, Erik Marcus, and Dr. Ruth Heidrich, president emeritus of VSH.

Visit http://www.vegfair.com or call 408-349-3683 for details.

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